Originally Posted by
cjmerlincnc
I have the same mill I converted to cnc. Things to be aware of, completly strip the spindle and remove the powdery grease and replace with decent spindle grease, about a week after I got mine I needed to do a job where the spindle had to be run CCW and after 5min the spindle started to bog down. I stopped the spindle and found it really stiff to turn. After stripping down I found dried crumbly grease around the taper bearing.
Most of the small screws eventually get loose as the internal threads seem oversize so I used loctite a fair bit.
I also followed the Hafco mill thread and used a 4" cylinder to take the weight of the knee which has worked very well.
I also fitted a pressure feed oiler system to all the ways and ballscrews as these ways are not hardened and will wear pretty quick if not kept lubricated. As I havn't had the chance to completly strip the mill as you have I would have liked to cut some oil grooves in the ways but they always seem to be pretty wet.
Things I haven't sussed out yet is the noisy gearbox or is that normal?
Also the head pivot seems a little weak, I have a problem where if I put a dial gauge between the table and head body and with mild hand force on the top of the gearbox I can get 0.1mm of springy movement. I've tightened the 3 holding nuts with an open ended spanner until the jaws started spreading (there is no room to get a ring spanner on them) . So if at some time you check the mating surfaces for flatness around this area I'd be interested in what you find.
Good luck with your build.